The present invention relates to absorbent articles which are adapted to contain body exudates. More particularly, the invention pertains to disposable absorbent articles that are prefastened in a pant configuration and include child resistant refastenable seams. The invention also pertains to methods of making such prefastened disposable absorbent articles.
Current disposable absorbent training pants for children going through the potty training stage have proved to be a particularly desirable and useful product. Such training pants generally include an absorbent chassis including a liquid impervious outer cover, a liquid pervious bodyside liner and an absorbent structure. The training pants further include elastic side panels that are permanently bonded to opposite side edges of the absorbent chassis. The chassis and side panels thereby form a unitary waist opening and two leg openings. The fit of the pants may be further enhanced by gathering means along the waist and leg openings.
The components of traditional training pants are permanently seamed together to provide a pant product. These products are particularly appealing to caregivers and are useful in the toilet training process because the pant has a very garment-like look. Children identify diaper products with babies, and most children do not like being identified with or as babies. Consequently, these children do not want to wear baby diapers, and instead prefer to wear training pants that look like adult underwear. Thus, the switch from a traditional diaper to a more garment-like or underwear-like training pant can be an important step in the toilet training process.
One drawback with current training pants, however, is that the manner of applying them is limited to being pulled on like a pant. Applying the product like a pant is advantageous in many instances, and is particularly suited for active, walking children. Even for the same child, however, there, may be times when it would be useful to apply the product like a diaper. For instance, it might be more convenient to apply the product like a diaper when there is a desire not to remove the child's shoes. Because it is difficult to know when a particular mode of applying the garment will be needed, it is beneficial to have a garment that is adaptable to being used either as a diaper or as a pant. This is preferable to keeping both types of garments available. A product that can be applied like either a diaper or a pant permits the interior of the product to be easily checked without having to pull the product downward.
Children, and particularly those of toilet training age, have the ability to remove disposable absorbent garments with conventional refastenable seams. For example, a child may be resistant to wearing such a garment, and thus may intentionally attempt to remove the garment. In other instances, the child may simply pick at or play with the refastenable seams of the garment in a manner which can lead to removal of the garment. In either case, the result can be undesirable.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a disposable absorbent article that provides the garment-like look of a traditional training pant, includes refastenable fastening components to allow application like either a diaper or a pant, yet minimizes the likelihood that the child will be able to disengage the fastening components without assistance from a caregiver.